IRRESISTIBLE NEW YORK CITY

The trendsetter has a new image that visitors instantly notice. It’s cleaner and safer and New Yorkers are more welcoming than ever.

Now along comes the ‘style’ hotel, a concept that peaked my curiosity to the point of planning a weekend at W New York in Manhattan.

This is a one-stop hotel that caters to the business and pleasure world. W New York fits the profile of a boutique hotel offering the same top quality services of larger operations.

It’s got a reputation as a high-energy location and yes, things are happening all the time. The lobby opens to the W Living Room where guests can people-watch on the comfortable sofas or sip a drink from the Oasis lobby juice and cocktail bar.

If you fancy an unhurried pace, take heart, comfort zones extend to the rooms and the Away Spa (look for our feature article in our next issue). I personally favor a room with a good view on a higher floor (less noise from traffic) and a bed with lots of pillows. Thankfully, the signature W guestrooms do not disappoint – they are elegant, but practical.

It’s easy to become complacent once you settle in and change into the cotton pique W bathrobes, soft and cuddly with its terry lining. If you need them, each room is accessorized with a personal CD player, two-line phone system and cordless phone, television Internet access, VCR and mini-bar. You can even set up your personal e-mail account for use during your stay.

Any hesitation at checking out the lobby happenings will be countered by a desire to dine at Heartbeat, the hotel’s restaurant that promotes healthy eating. Request a table near the Canyon Wall where the running water almost looks like a mirage, but is also a great conversation piece if you’re a twosome.

The water may well have significance at Heartbeat – clear and natural – it still attracts attention. As does Michel Nischan, the restaurant’s executive chef whose cooking practices embraces simplicity and shuns enhancement.

The acclaimed chef acknowledges his mother as his mentor, and continues to follow her philosophy of using farm fresh produce for premium results, and to cook them as little as possible.

Together with his innovative sauces, Nischan wins over skeptics easily. At dinner you’re in for a surprise when you set eyes on the menu and see the wait staff emerging with mouth-watering creations for other guests.

For appetizers we tried Tamari, Shrimps and Scallops with Cucumber Salad (see recipe below), Lump Crab Salad with Sugar Snap Pea and Sweet Corn Sauce. Encouraged by the flavorful first course, it’s open season on the entrees – Lobster, Fava Bean and Spring Mushroom Risotto and Beef Tenderloin with Wild Mushrooms and Yukon Potatoes. It’s hard to imagine that the dishes are sans butter and cream, but there’s a refreshingly light taste that emerges with each bite, and really, you don’t need the fat.

The breakfast fare is varied and interesting. Every heard of Vitality Breakfasts? You can take your pick of Well Being, Higher Mind, Power or Continental. Or you can order From the Pan, mostly eggs, but not your everyday type. Cholesterol reducing methods include ‘pastel eggs’ – blending one egg yolk to three egg whites. On the Griddle is also available offering Brioche French Toast with Fruit Compote, Apple and Ricotta Pancakes (with sun-dried cherries and apple cider syrup).

A totally new experience and well worth the effort of rushing back to Heartbeat after a morning of sightseeing is the Afternoon Tea which consists of a four-course tasting menu.

Apparently James Labe is the tea sommelier at the restaurant, but we somehow missed him.

Guests have a choice of Black Teas or Green and Oolong Teas, and after checking the menus the former seemed to be the best bet.

This is how it works. Each course is accompanied by a pot of tea, specially blended and freshly brewed. The portions are small, but satisfying and one pot is usually enough before you start the next course. Here’s the lineup in order of service:

Asian pear salad with roasted pecans and maytag blue cheese & Spring first flush Darjeeling (India’s prized black tea; the variegated leaf color produces an aromatic pale gold liquor and complex honey, berry, mint flavor notes before a refreshing light dry finish)

Winter cured salmon with caramelized cauliflower and coarse herb salad & Gold-tipped Assam (rich, malty, full-bodied black tea from India yields a sweet brown liquor)

Ajwain bread filled with pomegranate lamb and onions & Whole leaf Ceylon (Caramel aroma and flavor mark this unusual silver-tipped black tea of Sri Lanka)

Spiced pineapple with passion fruit curd and vanilla beet sauce & Marsala Chai (black tea blended with selected spices – each ingredient adds subtle flavor change)

PAT PLEASE PUT THIS AND THE RECIPE IN A BOX

TEA TIPS A LA JAMES LABE - Smell the tea for a strong aroma (if you can’t, it’s probably stale)
- Always use a porcelain pot and filtered or spring water
- A 12-ounce pot requires one heaping teaspoon for compact teas and two for looser leaves
- Steep black teas at 195 degrees, green between 125 and 170 degrees, for two to four minutes depending on your taste preference
- Let tea sot for a minute before sipping - good tea develops body as it cools
TAMARI, SHRIMP AND SCALLOPS WITH CUCUMBER SALAD

½ cup low-salt tamari
4 large sea scallops
4 large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 cucumber, peeled and seeded
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp. Canal oil
½ tsp. Toasted white sesame seeds
½ tsp. black sesame seeds

Place tamari in a small saucepan to boiling level and simmer until slightly reduced, but not too salty. Set aside. Fit one scallop into the curve of each shrimp. The shrimp will naturally curl around the scallop (use bamboo skewers to hold them together). Set aside. Shave cucumber into ribbons with a vegetable peeler. Soak ribbons in lightly salted ice water for half an hour until cucumber turns crisp. Drain and set aside. Heat a medium non-stick saucepan. Season each shrimp/scallop package with salt and pepper, then brush lightly with canola oil. Place shrimp and scallops in pan and sear for two minutes on each side. To serve, spoon a small amount of reduced tamari into centers of two plates. Set two shrimp/scallop skewers on sauce. Toss cucumber with sesame seeds and mound to side of seafood. Garnish by drizzling remaining tamari around rim of each plate.